Spring-tire.



B.. J. LAGKNB'B..

SPRING TIRE.

uruanxol rms 20.111, una.

Patented Feb. 1, 1910.

- Suwnton Lw/tva@ @inhuman I w. n u

UNITED RUDOLPH J. LACKNER. 0F NEW YORK. N. Y.

SPRING-TIRE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1. 1910.

Application filed December 16. 1908. Serial No, 467.851.

Be itknown that I, RUDOLPH J. L icnxnn, subject of the Em eror of l-'tustria-Hungary, residing in New ork, in the county of New York :ind State of New York. have invented certain ne.Y and useful' Improvements in Spring-Tires, of which the following a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in wheels of that type designed particularly for use on automobiles or other vehicles. and the invention has for its object4 a simple. durable and efiicient construction of device of this character which has a maximum resiliency and is sus- (eptible of withstanding hard usage. while at the same time being free from the. liability of punctures or blmv-outs that have heen found so obectionable with the ordinary nenmatic tires in general use. And a fnrt 1er object. of the invention is an impmvcd resilient. tire which is composed of a plurality of substantially duplicate sections, any one of which may be uicklv detached, without disturbing the et 1ers. when it is neeesmry to re lace such section b v a new one. Yith snel arrangement. it will be apparent, that when traveling in a vehicle equipped with these inl roved tires. it will he necessary to carry on v one or two of the tire sections. which obviously more convenient than taking a complete new tire. as is the usual custom.

'ith these. and other objects in view that will more fully appear as the description proceeds. the invention consists in certain constructions and arrangements of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe. and then point out the novel features thereof in the appended claims.

For a full under-stmaling of thc invention and the merits thereof. and to acquire a knowledge of (he details of construction. reference is to he had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, the parts being in 'sen-tion, of a resilient. wheel cnnstructcd in accordance with my invention;

F ig. 2 a transverse section thereof; and, Fig. fl is a detail rspectlvc vlcw of two adjacent sections o the rubber tread.

Corresponding and like. pa ris are referred to in the following,r description und indicated. in all the views of the drawing); by

the sume reference characters.

My improved tire. is designed to be npplied to a wheel which' embodies a hub l. spokes 2. and n felly 3. all of which may he of any desired or approved construction or design, excepting the telly. which is preferably formed lin its peripher)1 with an an nular channel 4.

The tire consists essentially of a pluralitv of substantiallv duplicate rim sections in the form of segmental plates that may beof any suitable number, preferably six. and that are applied to the periphery of the folly 3 with their ends havingr butt joints. so as to entirely encircle the same. The inner surfaces of these rim sections are suitably formed to tit into the channel 4. and are detachably retained in osition therein and connected tu the telly )y an)-v suitable means, as for instance. by a pluralityr of attaching bolts 6. These bolts pass through the respective sections and through openings provided in the felly and project in- Wardly beyond the latter with flange nuts 7 working thereupon.

Rigidlv mounted upon the periphcr)r of each of the rim sections 5 are n plurality of longitudinally spaced helical expansion s rings 8 which extend substantially radia4 y outWtn-dliT from the wheel und which are considerably strong. although the): are. I susceptlble of yielding inwardly uudereoni` pression. When all of the rim sections are 2 m place, it will be seen by referring particularly to Fig. l. that the wheel is thus encircled by a series of 0utsta1nlin,1,\ r springs which arearraneed to bear the load successively, as the wheel revolves.

Interposed between the helical springs S are substantialljr flat tongues; 9 which are hingedly connected at one end to the correspending rim sections 5 and which pass out- 4vvalrdlj? between the adjacent springs and h. ve their extremities rearwardly und angu- Iarly disposed, as indicated at 10. so as to extend partially over the next. spring in the rear of the respective tongues. Preferably i solid rubber caps l1 are fitted in the outer g ends of the helical s rings and are arranged lo have llunngulnr v disposed ends lll lu-ur thereugainst as the tongues 9 ure moved iuwardly under pressure. 'lhn series of l springs 8 are ncuscd hy a covering 1Q of' l leather or the like` tlul side portions ol' which @are relatively thin so asA not to interfere i wit-h the action of the springs. und the edges I of which uro lapped inwardly around ilu:

i I l llO respective rim sections 5 and arel detarhably connected thereto by screws or other suitable fastening means. For convenience, I have made this leather coverilney lf2 iu a plurality of sections-. one. for each rim tion, but it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to any suc-h arrangement.

The tire is completed by a rubber tread 13 which substantially surrounds the leather covering 1i?, and which is formed in its outer surface with a series of spaced transverse bars 14 in order to increase the adhesive engagement with the supporting surface and prevent any possibility ot the wheel slipping thereon. In the present instance. this tread 13 is composed of a number of sections equal to the number of rim sections 5, and the various sections of the tread are provided at their meeting edofes with buckles 15 through the instrumentality of which the sections are buckled around the fellv 3 as well as the leather covering 1:2, the ends of the adjacent tread sections being also buckled together to prevent one section from moving relative to the others.

In the practical use of my improved resilient wheel, when the same revolves forwardly dui-inv the progress of the vehicle, it will be seen that the angularly disposed ends 10 of the tongues 9 will be pressed inwardly suc.- cessivelv, as they assume a position to sustain the load. When the tongues move inwardly under pressure. they admit of the compression of the corresponding expansion springs 8 but inasmuch as the tongues are the first to be subjected tothe weight or pressure, and are moved or pressed inwardlftv affainst the rubber caps 11, it will be observea that. the pressure of the load is evenly distributed throughout their respective s rings, which thus materially increases their eng-th of life. As soon as the :rings are relieved of pressure, and expand to their normal positions. the tongues will be moved outwardly, as will be manifest. In the event of one of the expansion springs l losing its resiliency, it will e comparatively easy to locate such trouble. and it 1s but the matter ot' a short while for the drivel' of the vehicle to remove the tread section .surrounding the rim section that carries the broken sprin". The flange nuts 7 are then removed from the corresponding l altar-hing bolts I and this4 rim seelion 5 is removed from the fullv of the wheel and unav be quirlcly replaced hy a new one without. th'e necessity of disturbing the other parts of the wheel. The damaged section is returned to the manufacturer. and it will be manifest, that it may be repaired by him at comp-ar atively small cost.

From the foregoing (.leseription. in ronneetion with the accom )anyng drawing, it. will be apparent that 'have'provided an improved resilient wheel that consists essen tially of a novel tire which is adapted to withstand the hard usage to which it is sub jected on an automobile or similar speed vehicle, and is not liable to puncture or the like; which is composed of a plurality of sec tions that may be readily detached in case of damage, and that are so arranged that the damage may be quickly located; which is simple, durable and efficient. in construction and operation, and which consists ot comparatively few parts that may be easily1 and cheaply manufactured and readiiy assembled.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

l. In a wheel. the combination with the folly thereof. of a series of outstanding sprlngs mounted on the periphery of the felly and provided at their outer ends with rubber caps, and spring tongues carried by the folly and bearing against the respective caps.

In a wheel. the combination with the fellv thereof, of a circumferential series of spiral springs mounted upon the telly and projecting Isub.-'stantially radially outwardly therefrom, caps fitted to the outer ends of the sprlngs, and tongues interposed between the springs and hingedly connected at. one end to the felly, the other ends of the tongues being angularly disposed and extending outside of the respective caps and adapted to press inwardly thereagainst, as and for the purpose specified.

l In testimony whereof I affix my signature 1n presence of two witnesses.

RUDOLPH J. LACKNER. [1.. 5.]

"itnesses PAUL Kalf'rz, F aan. Drama. 

